…I never thought about it, I guess. Somehow it never occurred to me that Maria would automatically assume that Michael made me see stars through kissing. Why I didn’t see that little leap of logic coming I don’t know; I thought the dreams would be the hang-up, but instead it was the goodies that accompanied them. I meant to clarify later to them, after Maria was calmed down, that it was possible to see stars without kissing, that once all it took was a touch. Max had made me see stars in front of the Crashdown the night before…the night of the party there. I mean, Maria knew about them, she just never asked how I received them, and strangely I never told her. Maybe it was the way they made me feel…



I paused in my journal writing to nibble on the end of my pen. Okay, so using “seeing stars” as a code word for flashes was pretty pathetic, but hey, so was referring to the aliens as members of a country that no longer existed. It was hard to write in my journal at all anymore without using some sort of code, because of my fear that someone might find it: the FBI, the Skins, that nebulous evil there hanging out there on the horizon. Michael’s inherent paranoia was really beginning to rub off on me. It would be his fault if I turned out like the crazy hermit out past Fred’s, who wore a metal miner’s helmet at all times to block the spy satellites from reading his mind. Sometimes, when I looked back on all I had learned about in the last two years: alien possession, shape-shifters, reincarnated royals, secret alien-hunting government agencies, I wondered if I should get a helmet of my own. Couldn’t hurt, right? I mean really, how far off were satellites that could read your mind…



I shook my head at my wayward thoughts. It was all so completely 1984, craziness anyway you looked at it. I really had meant to explain to Maria that the arm flashes weren’t anything truly earth shattering—I mean the dreams, whoa, something to get freaked about, but the accompanying flashes, not quite as big a deal—but once Alex had made his little sex comment we just reverted to form, fooling around and cracking jokes, trying to blow off steam. I didn’t want to add to the stress. I didn’t want to remind them again that Alex might die by broaching the subject of anything having to do with the subject in general. Hell, I felt bad for asking Alex to take a look on the internet for us if the Sheriff’s connections didn’t pan out.



Besides, the flashes I received when Max grabbed my arm the night Nascedo had been killed were different, felt different. I had a hard time thinking about them really. I mean on one hand, the flashes of every time you’d been intimate with someone from the first kiss on could be construed as romantic, an affirmation that Max and I were meant to be together…but that was not how they made me feel. Instead, having my mind bombarded by these images right after I had unilaterally said no to our relationship, right after I had tried to stand firm so he could follow his destiny was—was a little violating. I felt like my mind was being invaded, like I was being cosmically jerked around. Wasn’t I in enough pain already without dealing with a “this is your love life” montage from Max? I mean, I know it wasn’t his fault, he didn’t even realize that I had gotten them, but I kind of felt that it reduced our entire relationship to sex.



Well okay, it reduced our entire relationship to foreplay.



Whatever.



That wasn’t why I loved Max though. Yeah, physical compatibility was good and I had once spent thirty minutes describing a kiss to Maria and the way it made me feel, but what made our relationship special wasn’t the kisses or any of that other stuff. It was the way we used to be able to stare into each other’s eyes and I would know exactly what he was thinking. It was the way he used to touch my face and hold me when I was scared. It was the way that I felt like I could tell him anything. It was the little touches and gestures that told me he loved me even when he couldn’t say it.



None of those made it into the visions I received from Max that night, and I guess that was what made them feel so wrong to me.



Maria had asked me if I got flashes later that night and I had pretended that they were no big deal by laughing, but it was a big deal. It was one that I really could have used her input on, to hear her interpretation on these flashes that had everything to do touching and nothing to do with being soul mates. It got pushed aside though, with Nascedo dying, the discovery of the Skins, and when that finally died down, the entrance of the Dupes. It got pushed back until it was only a vague memory I tried not to focus on too much and a passage in a diary no one would ever see and even if they did, then not understand.



Of course, the real question was: Why didn’t I immediately make the connection between those flashes and the ones I got from Michael?



The answer was both simple and completely terrifying. The flashes from Michael, while unexpected, did not feel wrong. Sure they happened at the wrong times, were a reflection of a dark future, and hinted at events that tore at my soul, but they never felt dirty. The connection with Michael never felt wrong. The flashes I received from Max—those flashes of what I had always considered a physical manifestation of our mental connection—they did. It all left me confused and bewildered.



No matter what problems destiny created for us, when I had received those visions I had believed I loved Max. Yet those visions made me feel like my mind had been violated in some basic way, like they were sullying something I thought of as pure.



I mean, not that I still didn’t love Max, we were soul mates. Sure, things had been rough and he wasn’t the boy I remembered, but it had been a really tough year. No one could escape from the White Room and not be changed, I realized that. We had all experienced a side of human and alien cruelty that we hadn’t known existed. But still those visions…



And why wouldn’t I feel the same way about Michael’s flashes? I wanted his about as much as he wanted mine and that was as close to nil as one could get. They put our lives physically in danger since we couldn’t control when we got them, and yet, receiving the visions themselves did not leave the same dark imprint the ones Max had given me outside the Crashdown did.



Maybe I was just getting emotional bleed-over from my future self. She seemed to have a thing for the future Michael, and he definitely seemed to be reciprocating. Maybe that was the reason they slid so easily into my mind. On some level I was her…not that I had any feelings for Michael. Because I didn’t.



Zip.



Zilch.



Nada.



Besides, it wouldn’t have made any difference, my Michael…I mean, present Michael didn’t feel a thing for me except for mild irritation of my continued existence in his sphere of life. I didn’t think he was still mad at Max for saving me. Not at all, I just didn’t think he considered me worth that emotional expenditure of energy anymore. No, I was pretty sure that Michael tolerated me as an attachment to the things he did want in his life, Max…and for off and on periods, Maria. I was Liz Parker. I was there whether he wanted me there or not.



Sure things were different since we started getting the dreams, we were forced together to stop this evil future—one that neither of our counterparts seemed nice enough to explain in any great detail—and as soon as we did he could return to thinking of me as Liz Parker, the annoying mosquito on the edge of his world yet again.



Because obviously if we fixed the future, then whatever happened to get Michael and I together would be nullified. Future Max had claimed the old future just faded away, and I was pretty sure that was the one thing he got right, even if that didn’t clarify if the new future would be any better.



Imagine: Michael and I, together, in a relationship.



It was so Rebel Without A Cause.



So cliché.



Certainly something that would offend Michael’s artistic mind in the event that we weren’t in the middle of a war. He read James Joyce for God’s sake.



Yes, he was being infinitely more patient than I thought he was capable of, and proving insightful at catching some of the seemingly throwaway lines in our dreams, but I doubted it would last. Michael was a soldier. This, this was a duty. I was like a consulting General. He would put on a good show until this was over, and if we won, then he would happily revert to type.



Because if there was bleed-over from the dreams, I doubted there would be any long terms effects.



Positive even.



The idea that Michael Guerin felt anything romantic towards me was definitely a sign of the coming apocalypse that our future selves were trying desperately to stop. I did not go for bad boys with messy hair and go-to-hell smirks, and he didn’t go for science geeks. I was meant to be with a nice boy who could explain his feelings and not hide behind cutting remarks. I was meant for Max.



Or at least I had been.



Seeing as how he had yet to hear about the flashes or the dreams with Michael, that outcome remained to be seen.



Flashes.



From Max.



The reason I started this whole thought process in the beginning.



I needed to call Michael and tell him about the Max/touch flashes so we would have an ace when Max got emotional over what we were telling him. And he would get emotional. Somehow I saw him being even more hurt by the flashes than he was by me supposedly sleeping with Kyle. The flashes had always only been caused by him…well with the exception of Nascedo, but that was another thing I didn’t necessarily want to think about. It still gave me nightmares. But it was only another layer to add to the conclusion that Maria had jumped to, the one I knew Max would jump to, that Michael and I had received our flashes through kissing. I didn’t have to say what I saw in the touch flashes Max gave me to let him know that it was possible without sexual contact.



I picked up the phone. We needed all the evidence and support we could get before facing Max tomorrow.



“Hello?” Michael’s voice growled along the line, rough like he had been sleeping or hadn’t used it in awhile. In the background I could hear the television.



“Hi Michael, it’s Liz. Listen, I just thought of something that could be helpful with the meeting with Max tomorrow and—”



“Fuck.” Cut off by the curse accompanied by a thumping noise, I stared down at the mouth piece in confusion, as if it would allow me to see what was happening on his end of the line.



“Are you okay?” I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, biting my lip. What if something was going wrong? What if—?



“Fine. Listen, I’ll be over in a few minutes.” I heard a grunt and another thump.



“Over? But Michael this won’t take long, I just—”



“Liz. Stop. Why would I want to talk to you on the phone when I can just as easily talk to you face to face?”



“But—” The dial tone hummed into my ear indicating that Michael did not believe in the polite tradition of saying good-bye before hanging up.



Pushing the off button, I stared down at the phone in my hand. Why would Michael want to talk to me face to face?



[center]* * * * *[/center]



Ten minutes after hanging up on Liz, I found myself standing under her balcony staring at the bottom rung of the ladder. Not moving, not climbing up, just standing and thinking. A dangerous process at anytime, I know. There was a lot of crazy shit that had been going on the past couple of days and I was still trying to absorb it all, trying to take it in…



Fine, and I was also stalling for time.



I didn’t know why I was doing this to myself, I mean, worrying about going up and talking to Liz. Maybe the lack of sleep was finally affecting my poor alien hybrid brain. Hell, maybe I should ask Parker to conduct a few science experiments on the Male Hybrid sleep cycle so that we could figure out exactly when sleep deprivation set in.



I hadn’t really slept in about three days. Every time I closed my eyes, I would remember something from one of the dreams, one of their voices coming back to haunt me.



I was wrong, we were all wrong.



If there is one thing that I've learned from this whole experience...it's that hindsight's a bitch.



...it doesn’t get any easier with time or age.



He was a fool, but we all were really...



I was kinda hoping we'd figure out what was going on and why all of a sudden we were getting these dreams, so I could get one decent night’s sleep.



I sighed and studied the last rung intently, eyeing the peeling paint and rusted metal. I really should have been heading up there, but for some reason, my body ignored my requests, leaving me cemented to the pavement.



Fuck, just lay it on the line, Guerin. Couldn’t be that hard.



I snorted. Right.



I just really didn't want to go up there and disappoint her with what I had to say. I didn't want to make this decision on my own and I didn't want her angry with the fact that I didn’t think she should go to our little “Alien Crisis 2001” meeting that we were holding tomorrow. I didn't want her to think that I was trying to boss her around like a certain King Ass.



Because I wasn’t.



I was trying my damnedest to look out for her, but somehow I figured Parker wouldn’t see it that way, at least not until I explained.



I just didn’t want her to get hurt anymore than she already had.



I mean, I had known Max all my life, the one before it even. And while I might not remember too much of what happened on Antar, I knew that in this time continuum when Maxwell got angry he tended to…well he tended to get grabby. He just didn’t think about what he was doing, how his actions would affect others. It became all about how his world was changing and he couldn't control it. Max didn't deal well with change or when things were actually different from his current perception of them.



Ironic coming from me, the man who Maxwell claimed never thought before he leapt.



Not true.



I always considered the consequences; it just rarely stopped me from taking the plunge. And sometimes, I just didn’t give a damn about them either.



Hell, I didn't think I would ever forget that time when he punched me in Frasier Woods because he was angry at the situation we were in. I admit that I had fucked up by going up there alone, but…



… but he didn't have any right to lay one goddamn hand on me. End of story.



I lost a lot of respect for Maxwell that day.



A lot.



Anyway, with all the new situations that were going to be forced on Maxwell, it just seemed like the smart thing to do was not to have Liz at the meeting. I didn't want to tell him that Liz and I were sharing dreams and flashes with each other with her there. He was going to flip out—it was practically a fucking guarantee—but I couldn’t predict his actions afterwards so I had to plan for the worst case scenario, which meant he was either going to punch me or try and grab Liz… She shouldn't have to deal with that after all she had been through.



Of course, I was also going to have to tell him about future Max and how Liz hadn’t slept with Kyle. That it was all an elaborate plan to save our collective asses. Hell, I knew exactly what was going to happen then. I could practically diagram it.



First, he was going to go from anger to shock to total adoration and love, executing the fastest 180 degree emotional turnaround in the history of Alien/Human male hybrids.



Second, his lip would start to quiver, his eyes would get that look that chicks would always swoon over in the movies, and he would ask in his most love sick voice, “You mean, you really didn’t sleep with Kyle, Liz? You did that all for me?”



No, Maxwell, she did it just to fuck with your brain. Sheesh.



Then the third step would include roses, candlelit dinners and all that other romantic crap whether Parker wanted it or not.



Parker wouldn’t say anything though. Nope, she was too nice, which meant that Maxwell would immediate view her monumental sacrifice of their love as the greatest proof she could ever give for the fact that they were meant to be together, and before you could say reconciliation, Parker would be shot back up to the top of the pedestal my brother seemed intent on keeping her on.



He would have completely glossed over the fact that her sacrifice was made in attempt to stop the world from ending, and both Isabel’s and my deaths. Nope, all that would matter was that Liz still loved him, and that obviously by telling him the truth she realized that they were meant to be together forever no matter what.



Sickening really. Someone would have to find me a bucket. Quickly.


Hell, I didn’t even wanna deal with the thought of what would happen if she did go running back into his arms.



I shook my head in disgust. What the hell was wrong with me? I’d gone from badass to dumbass in three days.



Grabbing the ladder determinedly, I quickly climbed to Liz's balcony before I could argue with myself anymore. As I pulled myself up and over the ledge, I spotted Liz curled up on her old beat up lounge chair, wrapped up in an afghan and furiously flipping though her journal.



“Hey.”



“We could have had this conversation on the phone, you know,” she replied without looking up at me.



I tried not to groan in frustration. “What is it about chicks and the telephone?”



“What is it about Aliens and my balcony?" she shot back, her eyes meeting mine.



Touché, Parker.



I shrugged. “How did it go with Maria and Alex? You're still alive, so I guess you only dealt with Tropical Depression Deluca…”



“As well as can be expected,” Liz sighed. “I mean, Maria flipped over the flashes, assuming that the only way we could have gotten them together was if we had kissed. Which is wrong, by the way, I've gotten flashes from Max before with absolutely no kissing involved.”



She pointed to her journal and I read the section she was pointing to.



“I never knew that you got flashes from Max by just touching.” I studied Liz with a raised eyebrow.



Liz pursed her lips.



“My private life is not always common knowledge,” she muttered.



Oh great, she was claming up again, not saying what was really wrong and it was obviously bugging her. I had to play Sherlock Homes here. “To Maria it is, why wouldn’t you tell her about them? Was there something strange about these flashes?”



Liz frowned, biting her lip.



I resisted the urge to sigh or blow something up and tried again. “Let’s not play this game. You have to tell me about these things or else...” I shrugged. “I can’t protect you against things I don’t know about, Parker.”



“The flashes felt wrong, okay? Weird…”



I barely resisted rolling my eyes. What about our situation wasn’t weird? Liz must have seen something in my body language because she began to rub her temple like she had a headache.



“This would have been so much easier to explain if you had been in on the conversation with Alex and Maria,” she murmured. She took a deep breath, blew it out, and when she spoke again her voice held the faintest edge of something…dark amusement?



“When I mean weird, I mean weird in an uncomfortable way. Not like when we get flashes or when I get flashes from kissing Max.”



I scratched my eyebrow for a moment. “Are you saying he forced these flashes on you?”



“No! No, not at all. He didn’t have a clue, just one moment he’s touching my arm to get me to stop and the next I get to see a slide show of…”



“Of?”



“It doesn’t matter what they were of,” she told me, waving her hand as if to brush aside the subject, but I noticed how stiff she held her body. “All that matters is that Max gave me these flashes and we can use them to help with our explanation of how we get our flashes.”



End of discussion. Stop. Here there be Dragons.



Parker’s body language couldn’t have made it any clearer that she did not want to continue that subject.



Fine.



I eyed Liz cautiously as I leaned against the balcony ledge. “Did you say anything to Alex?”



Liz's eyes dropped to her lap. “Yeah, I told him.”



“How did he take it?”



“As well as anyone does when you tell them that you're pretty sure they're going to die soon and it wasn't supposed to be that way.”



I sighed. “Well, I told Isabel and she was really concerned.” Liz nodded and I continued. “I mean, we're both going to keep a close eye on him, see if there’s anything that we didn't notice before.”



“Are you saying that I wouldn't notice something wrong with my best friend?” Her voice was sharp, but I noticed her eyes were scared. Fuck, I had scared Parker, made her question whether or not she was missing something.



“Ah, shit, Liz. I didn't mean it like that. I mean, I'm going to make extra rounds at night to make sure he's okay, and Isabel's pretty good at picking up on the little details.”



Liz's eyes softened.



“Thanks,” she whispered. I nodded my head. It was my job to protect everyone and that included Alex, Maria, Kyle, the Sheriff and Liz, whether they realized it or not.



“So, what did Isabel think?”



I shrugged. “She was surprised, but she said that she'll help back us up during the meeting with Max and Tess.”



While I viewed Tess as a potential threat, I had included her in the meeting to watch and gauge her reactions. I didn’t want to tip our hand and clue her in that we were watching if she really was working against us.



Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, sort of a thing. I’d just have to corner Maxwell at a later date to warn him about her.



Liz paused for a moment, playing with the afghan. “Tomorrow, right? Just after school?”



I tried not to groan. Here it was, the big moment. “Yeah, uh, Liz… I've been meaning to talk to you about that. I don't think you should be at the meeting tomorrow.”



“How can you say that Michael? They told us how important it was to work together as a team and you don’t want me to be there? I’m not going to mess up the meeting—"



“Liz!” I whispered harshly as I held up a hand to stop her ranting. “It's not like that.”



She looked up at me, her eyes wide and hurt behind her anger. “What is it like Michael?”



“How did Maria act when you told her about the flashes? Angry, pissed? Probably said something about how dare you swap spit with Spaceboy?” I stared down into her eyes. “Am I close?”



“Maria's not Max, Michael,” she murmured.



“Yeah exactly. Maxwell's worse, Liz. He's going to flip out royally about this. Probably say some really harsh things that you don't need to hear.”



“I can handle it. It’s not like it will be the first time,” Liz reminded me defiantly, jawed squared. Her anger was a lot stronger than her fear now. She looked like me right before I did something stupid.



“I know you can, I don't doubt you. However, Maxwell has a tendency to get violent sometimes...”



Liz looked away, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”



“Oh c’mon Liz, remember in Frasier Woods, about Topolsky, or the time with Tess in the desert, he grabbed her and shook her...”



Liz thought about it for a moment before responding quietly. “He was wrong during both cases sure, I don’t agree with using violence as an answer, but he was under a lot of stress Michael.”



“I don’t know Liz, hearing that his ex is getting flashes from his second in command, that the world is going to end… If that’s not stressful, then I missed the memo.”



“I appreciate you looking out for me Michael, but I can handle Max. Besides, won’t he be happy to learn that I didn’t sleep with Kyle? That will be in our favor. And like I told you, he gave me flashes from touch once, that works for us too.”



“Please Liz, the minute he hears that you didn’t sleep with Kyle all he is going to be concerned about is getting back together with you and we both know it. He isn’t going to be thinking about the sacrifice you made, why you made it, or the fact that we need to make some serious changes in this timeline if we are going to prevent it from happening again. He’ll just stop listening. If you are not there then we at least have a chance of still getting him to focus on what we need to do after he learns about what you did.”



“That’s not true. Max has to realize that our relationship is not as important as what is happening right now.” Even as she said the words her voice trembled slightly.



“Right Liz, are we even talking about the same guy here? This is Maxwell, King of all Tunnel Vision. He’s not going to notice jack-shit except for that you made this big sacrifice for him!” I told Liz as I pushed off her ledge and started to pace around her small balcony. “I mean hell, I wasn’t a big fan of destiny but he completely blew it off for you, he took risk after risk for you, and while I’m not saying he wasn’t right to, I just think he’s not going to see the end of the world as a reason to stay apart.”



Couldn’t Parker see, when Max was focused on her everything else took a backseat?



“If Max really loves me he will understand that this is not the time.” Her eyes flashed up at me.



“He’s not going to see it that way Parker, he’s going to see you putting up an obstacle against something that he believes is fated to be, destined in the stars or some complete fairytale crap like that and he’s going to angry, thinking you are denying him.”



“I’m not denying him, the timing would just be wrong. We have a lot to work through before we could ever be a couple again…” Liz looked exasperated, shaking her head.



I glanced down at my watch for a moment, realizing how long this was taking before continuing, “Look, we just spent how much time arguing on this? It’s going to be ten times longer with Maxwell, hell you can argue till you are blue in the face and he will still be convinced he’s right.”



I sighed for a moment. I was not used to being allowed to explain myself, usually Maxwell would have cut me off minutes ago, putting his foot down or some bullshit like that. I took a deep breath, walking over to where Liz was curled in her chair and sitting down on the end of it.



“Listen, Liz... if you are not at the meeting, I can tell him all of this stuff and maybe, just maybe I can get him to focus a few minutes longer than he would if you were there. We need him in this Liz, we both know that, but we can’t work at cross purposes and that’s what would happen if he chose to see this as a chance to rejoin you two at the hip…” I ran one hand through my hair as I watched Liz for her reaction.



She was still for a long moment, staring down at her afghan covered feet where they touched my thigh. I wasn’t sure if she was seeing them or something else.



“I want to believe that Max wouldn’t be like that,” she whispered.



“You can believe that all you want Liz, but we cannot take that chance.” I reached out and sat my hand on her knee, forcing her to look at me, to acknowledge the touch. “We might not have more than one chance to explain to him.”



“Fine,” she sighed. “But I expect that after the meeting is over that you’re going to tell me exactly what happened. That means no sugar-coating for my sake, Michael.”



I nodded my head at her imperious tone. Easy enough, it was what I was planning on doing anyway. “I will tell you when we get together to run the experiments.”



“Well if you are going to battle Max and run experiments with me you better get some sleep.” She pushed against my leg with her foot, prodding me to get up. “You look like hell.”



I rolled my eyes. “Goodnight Parker.”



“Goodnight Michael.”



I had just started climbing down the ladder when I heard Liz’s voice call out, “Oh, Michael, you are also going to fill me in on those thumps I heard over the phone tomorrow, right?”



I smirked. “Like hell, Parker. Use your imagination.”



There was no way I was going to tell her that the sound of her voice had made me fall off the couch.



[center]* * * * *[/center]



Sometimes I worried about the education I was receiving from my high school. I mean, here I was, having skipped Friday and totally blown off the entire weekend of studying and I was pretty sure that I had just aced my statistics quiz. I didn’t believe it was because I was some sort of super genius but more the result of the fact that Mr. Diamond hadn’t bothered to put any of the new material on it. Budget cuts be damned. What kind of training was that for me if I wanted to go to Harvard?



The warning bell rang as I slammed the door to my locker with my hip, my arms full of texts for classes for which I hadn’t done the reading. Good thing I had gotten smart this year and signed up for a Library study period. With all the alien business that cropped up it was usually the only time I had to do my homework.



Juggling the books, I turned and started down the hall, almost losing them to the floor when a hand pressed against the center of my back and began marching me along at a faster pace. “What—?”



“We’ve got to talk,” Michael told me out of the side of his mouth, his eyes scanning the hallway. I shouldn’t have been surprised, of all the guys I knew only he treated me like a foot soldier in his own personal army. If my hands weren’t full I would have saluted, instead I had to settle for a, “Yes, Sir! Whatever you say, Sir!”



He smirked at my militant tone. “I always did like my women agreeable.” He opened a door. “Get in.”



I paused, inches from crossing over the threshold, the dusty smell of chalk and mildew filling my nose. Why was he taking me here? I had it on good authority this place stole away one’s innocence…well okay, to me it had always seemed to be the place that zapped away ignorance, but still… “Michael, I don’t see the eraser room as the next logical step in the progression of our relationship.”



“Parker, you wound me. Here I am trying to talk to you and all you can think about is sex.” Returning his hand to my back, he scooted me into the room and then shut both of us in. “I have about as much interest in you sexually as Alex does.”



Okay, that hurt a little for some reason. I stood there in the dark while he fumbled for the light switch. “Alex had a crush on me in third grade.”



“In third grade he couldn’t even find himself Parker, not too worried here.”



The lights suddenly flared on, causing me to shield my eyes. The devil was back on my shoulder telling me it was time to bait Michael. “I don’t know, he was amazingly precocious in so many areas at such a young age.”



Michael looked disgusted. “I didn’t come here to talk about Whitman and his sexual proclivities. Well, I came here to talk about Whitman, but—”



Sometimes I just couldn’t believe no one realized how well read Michael was. I knew very few high school juniors that even knew what proclivity meant. Still, I wrinkled my nose… “Um, Michael, I think that’s something private you are just going to have to take up with Alex, I mean…”



“Cute Parker,” he growled running a hand through his hair. “This is serious. Valenti called me this morning to inform me that there is no Serena Winston living in the greater Roswell area, or in any of the surrounding counties.”



“So you want me to ask Alex to do the internet search?” I put down my books and hopped up on top of the low counter than ran along one wall. I couldn’t guarantee that I would be leaving this room anytime soon, so I might as well get comfortable. Michael had begun pacing—the norm when he was frustrated I had learned over the last couple of days—and it was best to just get out of his way.



“Give the girl a prize.” He executed a neat turn and retraced his path, which consisted of the three steps it took to make it to the opposite wall. “Did you get a hold of Kyle?”



“Yep, he’s driving me home after school so that I can fill him in on everything and tell him to keep an eye on Tess.” Out of all of us, Tess seemed closest to the Valenti’s, and admittedly I couldn’t imagine her hurting the men who had just bought her a chair of her very own, but if she was truly working against us it could all be an act. Better to be warned, plan ahead, and find out it was nothing then to be blindly led to death.



“Good. Isabel is bringing Max and Tess to my apartment right after school, which means we just have to plan on how you come over after the meeting is done.” He paused, scratching his eyebrow.



“I would think I would just get in the car and drive over. It’s not like I haven’t done it a million times before.” Tactical planning was all well and fine, but tactical planning on how to get to Michael’s place? Did he think I was going to develop a mysterious case of amnesia and get lost or something?



He must have heard the amusement in my voice. “C’mon Liz, you know that the first thing Max is going to do after that meeting is try to find you, and the first place he is going to look is the Crashdown. All I am asking is if I call you after the meeting and tell you that he reacted true to form and flipped out that you will take the back way to my place.”



“Fine,” I sighed, “but I don’t think it will be necessary.”



“Better to plan ahead…” Michael trailed off, eerily echoing my earlier thoughts.



Silence settled around us, and I absently watched chalk dust motes dance in the light. I was really hoping that his fear of Max’s reaction would turn out to be nothing. I didn’t want to believe that the gentle boy who had saved my life could be capable of that, but in the back of my mind I was continuously haunted by the disillusionment on my future self’s face when ever she talked about Max.



“Parker, question?” I turned my head to find Michael lounging in the corner of the room.



“Guerin, answer,” I replied. I needed a bit more to go on than two words. I wasn’t a mind reader.



Michael rolled his eyes. “I just wanted to know what you told Alex and Maria about the touches that triggered the flashes. I had to do some editing with Isabel, and I don’t want her to bring up the subject with those two and find out she didn’t get the whole story. Iz hates to be lied to.”



“Um, I had to do some editing too.” I bit my lip at the memory. It would be very bad if we had given conflicting stories. We needed to have the others trust us completely.



“Fuck! We should have talked about this.” Michael’s jaw clenched and I knew that he was imagining the possible consequences just like I was. “Damage control. I said arm for both, what about you?”



I couldn’t stop my sigh of relief, “I said arm too; it was the only thing that made sense because Maria was actually there for the first time we got flashes.”



Michael’s entire face relaxed as the stress drained out, but his voice was stern. “We got lucky Parker, but we can’t let mistakes like this happen again. We need to coordinate these little details.”



“Did you tell Isabel about the…” I waved my hand in a gesture that I hoped conveyed that I was talking about the feelings that were in our dreams.



“Hell no, you?” Michael looked at me like I had grown an extra head for even having the idea.



“Um, I was dealing with Hurricane Deluca. I value my life.” That was a complete no-brainer. “You two may not be together but she is possessive. I stuck to the bare bones. All that was really important was that the world was going to end again, and that Alex might die.”



“Exactly.”



“Well okay then. Glad we were on the same wavelength for all of that.” I hopped off the counter and began collecting my books. “If we are clear on what can and cannot be talked about, I need to go do some homework.”



“Fine, let me check the hallway.” He started to open the door, but I stopped him.



“No, let me do it. If there are any teachers or students out there I have a better chance of getting out of being seen coming from the eraser room than you do.” I nudged him aside with my hip and slid out into the hallway before he could protest.



“Well if it isn’t little Lizzie Parker coming out of the eraser room. Who have you been doing?” I gritted my teeth, Daniel Craig, the linebacker I had the misfortunate to get to know while dating Kyle, was standing behind me. I turned around, trying to scan the hallway as unobtrusively as possible.



It looked like he was the only one who saw me.



I pasted on a smile, but I knew it looked weak. I had to get him out of here so that Michael could leave. If Daniel saw him… Well, Daniel Craig had a mouth that rivaled Pam Troy’s in all ways except perhaps her ability to suck harder than a Hoover, or so Kyle told me.



Think Parker, think. What would work?



Got it.



“Actually I was hiding from someone,” I forced a little tremble into my voice.



Immediately Daniel’s sleazy smile became a frown. Despite or perhaps because of his rather feudal outlook towards women, he could be amazingly protective. “Was it that Evans freak? I knew that pounding he got last year wasn’t enough—”



Great, the last thing we needed right now was Max getting the crap beat out of him by the football team. I cut him off, “No! I mean, no, it’s not Max, and I’m probably blowing this entirely out of proportion, but…”



I paused, biting my lip. Wait for it, wait for it…



“…but do you think that you could walk me to the library. I would just feel a little safer.”



My inner feminist screamed at the ploy, but Daniel immediately began ushering me down the hall.



Hook.



Line.



Sinker.



Daniel even relieved me of my books as he escorted me towards my destination. I felt a momentary pang of guilt. I was getting far too good at this lying thing. I would definitely have to go cold turkey if we managed to save the world.



[center]* * * * *[/center]



Tess was late. I had told Maxwell to tell her that the meeting would start promptly at 3 pm. I leaned against the doorjamb to my bedroom, watching the clock tick forward as the minutes passed, Tess-free.



Normally, I wouldn’t be complaining, hell I could live in a Tess-less universe and be a happy boy, but I wanted to get this damned meeting over with. I had been dreading it all day, letting it consume my every thought and it was driving me crazy.



I looked over to Maxwell, who was camped out on my couch with Isabel, with a raised eyebrow. “Where the hell is she?”



“I have no idea, Michael. I told her to be here.” Max shrugged and turned his attention back to watching Oprah. Like Oprah would be able to help him – “Today on Oprah, Male Alien Hybrids and the Human Girls they Obsess Over!”



Puh-lease.



However, with Tess being late it was making me wonder, was she late for an ulterior purpose or had all that peroxide finally affected her brain and she had simply forgotten? I was tempted to go out and try to find her when my door suddenly flew open.



“So, what mess did Michael get himself into this time?” Tess asked as she sauntered into my apartment and helped herself to a Snapple in my refrigerator. Max and Isabel looked up from my couch in surprise.



“You’re right Tess, it was quite an emergency. I was out shopping at the Pet Barn today, and I couldn’t figure out if I should get you the choke-chain or the industrial strength muzzle for your birthday.”



“Fuck you, Michael.”



“Nah, I’ll pass, you look like a prime VD carrier to me.” I smirked at her.



Guerin – Two, Tess – Zero. I was on a roll, ladies and gentlemen.



Maxwell sighed and stood up. “Please knock it off.” He looked pointedly at me and I shrugged innocently. There was no way that Tess was going to wander into the meeting late, insult me and steal one of my Snapple’s without a little payback. “Michael, you said that there was something you had to tell us.” He settled back down on my couch and looked at me expectantly.



I took a deep breath and looked over at Isabel, who briefly nodded her head at me in support. I was really glad that Isabel was going to be on my side for this, I didn’t think I could handle it without her help.



“I’ve been having these weird dreams lately.”



“That’s it?” I could see Tess rolling her eyes in the kitchen.



“Tess, can you please shut your hole and let me talk?” I snapped at her. Damn. She wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise, it was really making me wonder if something was going on. Her usual bitchiness was amped up ten notches today.



Maxwell turned to look at her. “Please, Tess. If this is important, we need Michael to tell us.”



“Oh, I’m sorry Max. I didn’t mean to be so mean. It’s been a long day.” She shrugged her shoulders apologetically and immediately sat down between Max and Isabel on my sofa.



I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at Tess’ sudden change of heart.



“Anyway, in each of these dreams, it’s been my future self contacting me, warning me that if we don’t change some things now, it will mean the end of the world.”



Max looked curious. “Are you sure it was really your future self?”



“Yeah, he was able to prove to me that he was legit and told me things that were going to happen in the future.”



“But if he’s telling you things that happened in the future, how do you know that they’re true?” Tess pointed out. She was trying her best to cozy up to Maxwell.



“That’s a good point, Michael.”



I gritted my teeth in frustration and starting pacing back and forth in front of my TV. “He told me things that were going to happen and they did. But that’s not important right now, I mean, he told me that we need to change things, be alert now to save our future.”



Maxwell looked deep in thought for a moment. “So, I guess Isabel must be helping you project yourself back into your own dreams, like dreamwalking?”



Not quite, Maxwell. You are so not going to like where this is going to lead.



I took a deep breath. “No. From what I gathered, Isabel isn’t helping them astral project through time.”



“Them? You didn’t mention anyone else visiting you in your dream, Michael,” Tess suddenly asked and I felt Maxwell’s eyes lock on mine.



“Liz has been having the same dreams. Except it’s her future self talking to her, like my future self is talking to me.”



“How would you know about what’s going on with Liz?” Max asked me in a quiet voice. The calm before the storm. Max was trying to appear like he was taking this well, but I could tell otherwise based on how tightly he was starting to clench his jaw.



“She told me, Maxwell.”



"How did she know you were getting the dreams, Liz doesn't have the kind of power to do something like that... she’s just human.”



At the other end of the couch, Isabel shook her head. “Max. Liz was able to astral-project herself all the way to New York to save you. Who knows, maybe in the future, she’ll have even more control over that power of hers.”



He turned to take in his sister. “But you told me that she still had to link up with you to find me in New York.”



Isabel shrugged. “Apparently, in the future, Liz can link up with Michael as well.”



Maxwell swung his attention back to me, still looking eerily calm, but I knew better. The tips of his ears were starting to turn a brilliant shade of red as he tried to hold in his anger, it wouldn’t be long now... “...but how did she know you were having these dreams Michael?”



Just say it, Guerin. No backing out now.



“We had flashes of them.”



All fucking hell broke loose.



Years of growing up with that abusive bastard of a foster father taught me to recognize when people were going to charge at you or throw a wild swing. I knew that Maxwell was going to try to punch me before he had even sprung up from his sitting position on the couch, his fists balled, jaw clenched, forehead vein throbbing.



It almost reminded me of the time he punched me in Frasier Woods. I knew it was coming that time too and I had chosen not to move, I let him hit me because I felt like I deserved it.



This time however, there was no fucking way I was going to let Maxwell land this punch. I was dimly aware of Isabel and Tess screaming out for him to calm down as I quickly sidestepped the fist that flew at my face, maneuvering myself around the backend of the couch to put some distance between us.



“How could you do this to me, Michael? This is Liz, I’ve always loved her, and she’s my soul mate...”



“It’s not like that, Max!” I shouted to him.



“Oh yeah, sure Michael.”



“Damnit, Maxwell. If you would just fucking listen to me for one minute, I would explain!” He tried to lunge over the back of the couch.



“Listen? How can I listen when the person who is supposed to be my best friend is going around kissing Liz behind my back? How could you do this to me? I’ve done everything for you!”



“C’mon Max, stop this!” Tess called out in vain as she stood in front of him, her palms raised to try and stop Maxwell’s movement towards me. He harshly knocked her arms out of his way as he shrugged her off and continued his movements, this time circling around my small TV table.



Watching Maxwell shoved Tess made me silently thank Liz for agreeing with me to stay away from this. I had known this was going to happen.



“Do what to you? This isn't something I asked for. You are jumping to conclusions.” I laughed bitterly and chose not to comment on his ‘I’ve done everything for you’ statement. Done everything for me? Riiiiiight.



“Don’t play dumb with me, Michael! I can’t believe this. Wasn’t Maria enough for you?”



“That was a low fucking blow, Maxwell!” I was glad that I had soundproofed my apartment last night. The neighbors surely would have called the cops with all the screaming we were doing.



“You started with Maria and now she's apparently not enough for you, so now you're trying to get to Liz with these flashes!” Max yelled in a hoarse voice, the veins in his forehead throbbing.



I tried to clamp down on the heat that was starting to vibrate in my hands. “Maxwell, if you don't shut the hell up, I'm going to get seriously pissed off,” I told him in a low voice. “Calm down or else you're not going to like what I will have to do.”



“I shouldn't have to calm down…” Max responded but was cut off by Isabel finally getting over her shock at his behavior towards Tess.



“Max!” She reached out and grabbed her brother by the shoulder, pushing him down into the couch cushions. “Will you just listen and stop freaking out!”



King Asshole looked up at his sister in surprise. “Izzy?”



Isabel’s eyes hardened into pure Ice Queen glare. “He’s trying to explain to you what’s going on and you won’t let him without throwing a temper tantrum like a little boy! Maybe if you just sat there and listened... Michael could explain himself.”



I flicked a glance over to Isabel and nodded my head in thanks as Maxwell noticeably simmered down a notch. It was only a notch, however, because the tips of his ears were still bright red. As he forced himself to relax against the back of the couch, I noticed that Tess was seemingly arrested by the scene, absently spinning the ring she wore on her right hand. I wondered briefly if Maxwell had jarred the brains from her as I took in her slightly dazed _expression. For a moment I almost felt sorry for her.


“Contrary to the popular belief, Liz and I didn’t get these flashes by kissing. We got them through hand to arm contact instead,” I told Max pointedly. “In fact, Liz informed me that she’s received flashes from you by hand to arm contact as well. So can you officially stop freaking out now?”



“I thought that she only received flashes through kissing me,” he growled.



Jeeze, Maxwell. Can we say conceited?



“Well, you’re wrong. I’m not a fucking scientist, so I can’t tell you why you aren’t special anymore. I don’t know why it’s happening! All I know is that it happened and we’re trying to make the best of it. So would it be even remotely possible for you to calm down anytime soon!?” I flung my arms up in the air in frustration. Why couldn’t things ever get any easier when it came to dealing with Max-hell?



Oh wait, I had forgotten I was Michael Guerin, fate’s little bitch.



“So Liz has been…” Max started to speak only to be interrupted by Tess.



“Wait a minute… How do you know it’s going to be the end of the world?”



I nodded my head towards Max.



“Because he told Liz so,” I muttered as I leaned against my kitchen counter, still keeping my distance from King Temper Tantrum in case he decided he wanted to try and punch me again.



“What?” Max exclaimed.



“Not technically you. It was a future version of you that somehow came back in time to warn us, well, more specifically Liz that the world was ending. It happened right before Tess fried the Skins and we met our Dupes.”



I didn’t want to mention the part about modifying and using the Granolith for time travel, not with Tess around. I didn’t want to give her too much information if she was secretly working against us, and if she was still on our side, oh well.



Maxwell’s ears were achieving the height of their brightness again, and I remembered then that was when the Mr. Paranoia personality made its entrance. Thankfully Isabel diverted another explosion with a raised a hand. “Max came back and warned Liz that the world was ending and she didn’t tell us? And if Max already came back and warned us, then why are your future selves warning us in your dreams?”



I shrugged. “It didn’t work. Liz apparently changed enough so that version of the future disappeared… Something to do with the laws of physics or something. Unfortunately now it has been replaced with a different version that isn’t any better than the first. To avoid that we’ve gotta work together this time.”



“Why didn’t Liz tell us about this the first time? Why didn’t Liz come to me? What did I tell Liz to do?” Max asked in frustration.





“Because you asked her to specifically stay away from you, because you wanted there to be a rift… your being together causes the world to end.”



“There has to be some mistake… how can love cause the end of the world…” Max looked up at me with his already sad watery eyes. Jesus, if he had sad and watery eyes now, I could just imagine the waterworks when he heard what Liz sacrificed for him.



“It was because of that love that Tess decided that she didn’t want to stay in Roswell anymore and left.” I looked over at Tess who looked stunned. “You apparently got sick of playing second fiddle to Liz and took off, making our group weaker and easier for the Skins to attack.”



“But… I couldn’t just leave like that.”



“You did. So, Maxwell came back in time to ask Liz to break up with him so that you wouldn’t leave. Liz did the only thing that she could…” I turned my attention back to Maxwell. “The only thing that would get you to back off and start thinking about other people…”



“What are you saying, Michael?”



“I'm saying what should have been obvious to everyone except you Maxwell… Liz didn’t have sex with Kyle.”



Here it was, ladies and gentlemen; please take your seats for the Fastest 180 turnaround in Hybrid History! For our first act, he entertained you with puppy dog eyes accompanied with his head in his hands.



Maxwell heaved a heavy sigh, his forehead resting against his palms.



Hold your applause please. For our second act, Maxwell will now stand and say something sappy about Liz. This will then be followed by his declaration of love.



“Liz sacrificed everything because I asked her to,” Max moaned as he stood up from the couch. “But she’s my soul mate, I love her, she loves me… we can work this out. Love doesn’t cause endings, only beginnings…”



Bucket, please.



“Uh, what about the end of the world, Max?” Isabel asked. “Shouldn’t we be worrying about that?”



Max waved a hand at her. “We’ll deal with that, no problem. I just gotta get to Liz’s and tell her that we can work everything out.”



I resisted the urge to groan, blow something up or storm out of my apartment. Maxwell was acting just the way I had figured.



Which didn't bode well for Liz.



Fuck, it didn't bode too well for the rest of the fucking world either.

[center] * * * * *[/center]



It was hard to believe that the same brash, violence-was-the-answer-to-all football player that I dated was the guy I was talking to now. There he sat, full lotus on the hood of his car, calmly watching me as I stuttered out my story of the dreams and finally my Future Max explanation. “…and I knew that the only w-way to make him realize that the relationship was over was to make him think that I had moved on, so…”



“So you called me, and we staged the scene he walked in on,” Kyle finished for me. He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped against his lips. “We make our own world, Liz.”



Huh? He looked so wise and resolute when he said that, but unfortunately what made perfect sense to him, left me completely floundering. We make out own world? This was one of those times where I wished he would revert back to easy to understand jock and not pull a David Carradine.



Kyle continued, “There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.”



“Excuse me?”



If he said anything close to “count the pebbles in my hand, grasshopper” I would have to kill him.



My tone must have caught his attention. He sighed, “Liz, what I’m trying to get across here—which would be a whole lot easier if you would just let me loan you Buddha for Beginners—is that you sacrificed your happiness to save the future, and now you are doubting yourself because it turns out that the world might still end. Don’t doubt yourself. Maybe you weren’t supposed to do it alone, maybe that’s why you are talking to me. Doubt will only hurt you and weaken the strength you need to make it through this…”



“We make our own world,” I stated aloud, it all finally making sense. If I began to doubt that we could pull this off, doubt the validity of what Michael and I were being told, or doubt the strength of our group bond, then we failed before we started. If I wanted to change the future, I had to believe that I could do it. Maybe having the Kung Fu master around wasn’t so bad after all.



I couldn’t stop the grin that spread across my lips as I hopped up to sit beside him. “When did you become so wise?”



“Well, I could play it off as the reaction to being shot and then healed by Max Evans, but really…” he lowered his voice conspiratorially, “it’s the fact that I had to do a lot of mediating to clear my mind of the flashes he gave me.”



“Still being haunted by visions of him naked?” I whispered back, referring to the conversation we had the night that had changed my whole relationship with Max. It was hard to believe that I could joke about anything said then, especially with what happened afterward, but this was Kyle. He had always made me feel comfortable.



“I just chant to myself over and over ‘Focus on the ears,’” he intoned.



I couldn’t stop the laughter that gurgled up my throat, but I tried to keep it at a minimum. “They are not that big, Kyle.”



“Liz, the boy could take flight with them! I’m surprised that they aren’t part of his super alien powers.”



I shoved against him with my shoulder. “He can’t help that.”



“I know, I know. He was made that way.” He shook his head. “You would think that they could have found a donor that was slightly less Dumbo-like though.”



“Well it was before Disney had copyright laws, you know.” I couldn’t believe that I had said that aloud. It just slipped out. I swear.



“Why Elizabeth Parker, did you just say something nasty about Mr. Maxwell ‘he that would be King’ Evans? Whom have you been hanging out with?” Kyle looked at me with a combination of admiration and shock.



“Lately, Michael,” I mumbled. I felt the tension return to my body as I uttered the words though. I still needed to talk to Kyle about one thing Michael and I had agreed that he had to know.



“I don’t know if I should congratulate him, or punch him for ruining your sweet, innocent mind,” he drawled. “Although having you speak out against Max does tend to make me lean towards congratulations.”



“Um, before you go shaking his hand, there’s something that I still have to tell you,” I began, pushing my hair behind my ears. “Something that came out in our dreams.”



“Hey.” Kyle stopped my hand before I could repeat the motion over again. “This is me Liz, you can tell me anything. Member of the hide aliens in plain sight conspiracy here.”



I looked up into his eyes; his features had drained of all hints of hilarity to take on a grave cast. He was right. Still this was going to be so hard on him. “It’s about Tess.”



His mouth tightened briefly, but his gaze remained steady. “What about her?”



“In my dream, my future self mentioned something about her being exposed, and it was in the same sentence as mentioning…” My breath caught for a moment in my throat, choking me. “…As mentioning that Alex died.”



“Are you saying that in the future Tess kills Alex?” His entire body was practically vibrating, and I noticed he closed his eyes. I knew how much Tess meant to him, that it hurt him to watch her flirt with Max. He told me once that she was his favorite alien out of all of them, and really it made sense, she was the only one that didn’t try to hurt him in some way. Not intentionally. Tess hadn’t lied to him like I had, like we all had, for the better part of a year.



“No Kyle.” I bit my lip, trying to tread the line between truth and supposition carefully. “We don’t know what happened. The first time we had the dreams it was just so bizarre and the second time both Michael and I had our dreams interrupted. I don’t know what my future self meant, only that something happened, and I don’t think it was good for Tess, the group, and definitely not for Alex.”



“Why are you telling me this, Liz?” The tension leached from his body, leaving him looking pained, but accepting somehow, like it wouldn’t be impossible for another woman in his life to betray him. One more mark on my soul.



“You live with her, she’s a member of your family, and you of all people would be aware of it if she began acting differently.” I reached over and rubbed a soothing hand along his back. “I’m telling you so that you can keep an eye on her and make sure she’s safe just like Maria and I are doing for Alex. We don’t know that she’ll do anything wrong, she could be a victim too.”



“Do you believe that?” The somber eyes met mine once more.



I returned his gaze. “I believe that she cares about you, and that you care about her.”



“Way to skirt the issue Liz,” he snorted.



“I can’t give you a straight answer. The very foundations of everything I believed have been rocked by what I have learned in these dreams. I really don’t know what I believe anymore.”



“Everything changes, nothing remains without change,” Kyle murmured on a sigh.



“Buddha?” I asked, more to change the subject than anything else.



“Big Guy had a quote for just about everything.” He slid to his feet and stretched, looking not at me but at the cactus and rocks that made up our surroundings. “Remember the first time we came out here?”



So he wanted to play the avoidance game too, sometimes that was for the best. I rolled my eyes as I pushed off the hood and joined him on the ground. “How could I forget? You told me you had a secret place to show me. Little did I know it was a secret make-out spot.”



“We never got caught, now did we?” He grinned over at me, but it was a pale imitation of his usual smile. I hated being responsible for that. Hadn’t I caused Kyle enough pain over the last two years?



“I’m sorry for the way I treated you after Max saved me. I didn’t handle it very well. You deserved better.” I kicked at the gravel that composed the little side road.



A warm hand reached out and clasped mine. “Look, you handled it better than most adults would have Liz, handled it a lot better than me. You were shot, you were healed, and you discovered that there were aliens among us. And instead of giving you time to come to terms or talk to me, I turned all stalker-like on you.”



“But—”



He held up his free hand. “Look, I’m not saying that either of us were saints Liz, we did stuff wrong. That was the past though.” He squeezed my fingers. “You were my first girlfriend, and you are still my first girl friend, best girl friend. Two words. We can’t change the past Liz, only mold our future.”



“You are one of my best boy friends too.” I pulled my hand free so that I could wrap him up in a hug, murmuring again against his chest, “How did you get so wise? I mean it this time.”



“Well,” he began prosaically, “my girlfriend left, I discovered aliens and then I was shot. I could claim that had something to do with it, but I think the real root of my knowledge comes from a summer of only being able to talk to a little stone statue of a man.”



I pushed away from his chest to squint up at him. “You know, talking to inanimate objects is a sign of insanity.”



“So is believing in little green men, I am told.” He winked at me. “I won’t tell anyone your crazy if you promise not to rat on me.”



“Deal.” My phone chose that moment to ring and I fished it out of my pocket only to have Kyle swipe it from my grasp.



“Hello, this is Miss Parker’s spiritual advisor speaking, may I ask who’s calling?” I tried to grab the phone but he held me away with an outstretched arm.



“Kyle…” I growled.



“Hey Guerin…Yep, she told me…I can have her at your house in a few minutes.” He stuck his tongue out at me between replies to Michael’s questions and I frowned fiercely at him in return. Brat.



Whatever Michael said next made his brow wrinkle. “Yeah, I can take her the back way, you gonna tell me why though?”



His eyes flickered towards me, and then away. “Yeah, no, I totally understand man. I will have her there as quickly as possible. Never thought I would say this, but smart thinking Guerin.”



“What did he say?” I asked, snatching back my phone as soon as Kyle hung up.



“He said his conversation with Max went the way he thought it would.” His eyes were trained on my face. “What do you think he meant by that, Liz?”



“Just, um, that Max has a tendency not to see the big picture sometimes?” I shrugged, biting my lip. I didn’t want to believe that Max had reacted violently, but Michael wouldn’t lie.



Kyle arched his brows, but chose to not pursue the subject, asking instead, “What are you going to do at Michael’s house?”



I waited until we had finished climbing into the car to answer, “We get these flashes from the dreams, and we can’t control them.”



“Flashes?” Sometimes Kyle could be the King of vocal innuendo.



“From touching[/],” I stressed.



His teeth flashed in the review mirror as he backed out to pull a U-turn. “Had to clarify that one a couple of times, haven’t you?”



“You wouldn’t laugh if you had known how close I came to being a hurricane mortality,” I grumbled as we pulled out onto Lloyd.



“Yes, how does one solve a problem like Maria?” he chuckled.



“For the moment I am going to completely ignore the fact that you quoted [I]The Sound of Music, and answer your question. One talks quickly, very quickly.”



Somehow, someday, I was going to use that little musical slipup to my advantage Mr. Valenti. You wouldn’t know when, and you wouldn’t know where…but someday…



Kyle nodded his understanding, tapping his fingers against the wheel to the song on the radio.



“You shouldn’t discount the idea though.”



His voice startled me, and I tore my eyes away from my contemplation of my hands to frown out him. “What idea?”



“All I’m saying, is that if you have flashes you have to control and you know that you get flashes through kissing then the obvious connection would be—”



“Kyle! I can’t believe you are even suggesting that!” Was I blushing? Please tell me I wasn’t blushing. Michael and I were not going to have to kiss because we would figure out how these flashes were happening in the first place. Why would we bring kissing in when the issue had nothing to do with it?



“Just saying it’s an option.” He flashed that little boy smile and leaned across me to pop open my door. “We’re here.”



I felt stupid for not even noticing that the car had stopped.



[center]* * * * *[/center]



"I don't care what you say, Michael… I'm going to Liz's.”



Damn you, Maxwell Evans. Why on earth did you have to be so colossally stupid sometimes?



“I don't care what you say, Michael…” I mimicked in a high voice as I punched one of my couch cushions savagely. Maxwell had stormed out of my apartment moments earlier, angry that I was trying to stop him from visiting Liz. Tess had promptly taken off right after, stating that she would go and talk to him, whether it was to start weaseling her way closer to Max or do to something else, I wasn't quite sure. I made sure that after they made their leave, I had immediately called Liz. Thank goodness Kyle was bringing her here the back way.



“You okay, Michael?” Isabel asked as she walked around my apartment, gathering the loose couch cushions that had gone flying in Maxwell's anger.



I shrugged. I shouldn't have even gotten my hopes up that Maxwell would be reasonable today. Wasn't even worth it.



Isabel sighed. “I'll try to talk to him later today, Michael. You know how Max can be sometimes.”


“Thanks,” I muttered, sinking down onto the couch.



I could feel Isabel studying me for a moment before speaking again. “He has to understand that there is more at stake than his relationship with Liz. He has to.”



“I had this conversation with Liz, Isabel. Max only sees what he wants to see. Nothing anyone can say will change his mind.” I was fighting the urge to return to my couch cushion punching. “Hell, even when Liz told him that they couldn't be together for the fate of our world, our destiny, he didn't care! He pushed and pushed all summer long. What difference does it make that Earth is on the line? He doesn't get it!”



“Michael, is this something new? He’s always been like this with Liz. I don’t expect him to snap out it anytime soon,” Isabel told me as she arranged the couch cushions around me. “The only thing is that the stakes keep getting bigger and bigger and Max keeps ignoring them for her.”



She was right. First it was our exposure that he ignored, then our Antarian Destiny and her wishes for him to follow it and now the end of the world. You would think that as “King,” Maxwell would have his priorities straight.



I was starting to get a feel for why everything went to hell on Antar.



Isabel continued to tidy up my apartment for a few minutes as I remained on the couch, attempting to regain control on my anger before Liz arrived.



I hated having to break it to her that Maxwell acted exactly as I had predicted. Liz was always so strong in her belief that he would do the right thing and…



…it must be disappointing when he failed her. I shook my head.



“Well, it definitely looks better, Michael. Liz won’t be able to tell that Max went on a rampage.” Isabel surveyed my apartment. “But I’d better head out. I’m supposed to help my mom cook dinner tonight. Do you want me to bring you some later?”



Isabel and her mom cooking? Be still my queasy stomach. “Uh… Thanks for the offer Is, but I think I’ll just eat a sandwich or something later.”



“Okay. See you tomorrow at school.”



I sighed. Isabel knew she was going to have to play down our brother’s behavior at her house again. She was constantly covering for Maxwell, but he never noticed, or cared for that matter.



I wonder how Liz’s talk with the mystical midget went. Kyle certainly seemed to be in good spirits when I had spoken to him on Liz’s cell phone. I don’t know why the hell he answered the phone as her “spiritual advisor” but maybe he was spouting off on his Buddhist nonsense again.



However, Kyle and I definitely saw eye-to-eye about keeping Liz away from Maxwell for a while. I’d let Max scour Roswell for a few hours before I was going to let Liz go home.



Even then, I was still going to walk her there.



[center]* * * * *[/center]



“You shouldn’t discount the idea though.”



Spiritual advisor my ass! Kyle had caused more emotional turmoil with that one little comment than I had experienced since these dreams had begun.



Um, best friends with Maria…



Still in love with Max, who Michael thinks of as a brother…



Hello?!



Kissing is so not okay in this situation.



I mean, say it was done in the name of scientific experimentation—which would be the only circumstance that I would ever consider kissing Michael Guerin in—it would still be a violation of everything that I stood for. It would be screwing around with my best friend’s boyfriend, the brother of my boyfriend…



Well, okay. Maria and Michael were currently stuck in the off position…



And technically Max and I hadn’t dated since before the whole destiny nonsense…



But still, it wouldn’t be right because…



Because…



Because Michael would never go for it!



He would be outraged at the thought of kissing me, insignificant little Miss Parker.



Nauseated even.



Case closed. There would be absolutely no kissing during our little experiment session, just good old fashion touching…



Touching Michael.



Damn it!



New thought. I was desperately searching for a new thought totally unrelated to touching anything except maybe the door in front of me, seeing as how I had to touch the door to knock to let Michael know that I was here and I couldn’t do that without—



Oh God, I was turning into Maria.



Deep breath Parker, deep breath.



I rapped my knuckles against wood and prayed that sometime between calling me in the desert and my arrival Michael had come up with some brilliant resolution that answered our little flashing dilemma that would allow me to go home to drown myself in the bathtub in peace.



Michael threw open the door with much more force then necessary, a frown etching his brow. No look of celebration there. Damn. My plans for a quick painless suicide to avoid this embarrassing situation were obviously foiled.



“Uh, hey Liz,” he mumbled shoving the door open wider to let me in.



“Hey,” I choked out desperately trying to block out Kyle’s voice in the back of my mind. He was starting to chant in the same annoying voice he used to use in grade school when he would pull on my pigtails on the playground, “Liz and Michael sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N—”



“Listen,” Michael began, thankfully overpowering Kyle’s third grade reversion, “I think that you should avoid Max for a little while.”



Max?



Oh right, Max. My soul mate. Boyfriend. Er, ex-boyfriend, sort of soul mate. Soul mate on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and alternating Sundays? Maybe he was a timeshare?



I was going insane.



Damn you Kyle Valenti and all your stupid suggestions.



“Liz?” I looked up to find Michael watching me with concern, “It’s not that… He’s just… Maybe Isabel will be able to talk some sense into him, but right now he’s got fucking tunnel vision and it doesn’t bode to well for the future.”



Oh God. Max. My insanity came to a standstill as I finally comprehended what Michael was mangling, trying to spit out without saying I told you so. Max had reacted as predicted. He had reacted violently. I could read it in the way the alien in front of me was trying to scratch his eyebrow off his face, the way that his apartment looked too neat, like somebody—probably Isabel—had straightened after it had been destroyed. My sweet Max Evans who had saved my life and stared longingly into my eyes was a boy who lived more in my imagination and memories than in reality anymore.



“Did he hit you?” I blurted out searching Michael’s face and the exposed skin of his arms for bruising.



He shrugged. “Max can’t hit me unless I let him.”



In other words, he took a swing, but didn’t make contact.



Thank goodness Michael hadn’t been hurt.



One part of me still found it so hard to believe that Max would act this way. Not look at the full picture. Strike out.



The other part of me—the dark, hurt place that had been created the moment Max started looking at me with distrust and anger—simply whispered:



“Remember Frasier Woods?”



“Remember him shaking Tess in the desert?”



“Remember the little spiteful, hurtful things: giving back the pocketknife, choosing her company over yours, refusing to listen…”



“A precedent was set long before this day.”



I bit my lip as I pushed a strand of hair behind my ear, pushing away the voice with the same motion. Now was not the time. “Did he listen at all?”



Michael shook his head, jabbing his hands into his pockets. “After he heard that you didn’t sleep with Kyle, all he could think about was finding you and renewing your love.”



“Did he understand that the end of the world was involved?” Maybe I was wrong, maybe he didn’t say things in the right order and Max just got distracted.



His eyes narrowed and he swung away from me to stalk towards his couch. “Gee Parker, I only mentioned it about five or six time, but maybe Maxwell has become hard of hearing. He was podded in the fifties, you know.”



He dropped down on the couch, trying his best to look unaffected by my doubtful tone, but his recently freed hands clenched the cloth covered back until his knuckles turned white. “Michael I didn’t mean… God, I never meant to question—”



The smirk he shot cut through my uncomfortable rambling. “Hey, no problem Parker. You love him, and this is all about love. Oh wait, not for Max though because love can’t cause the end of the world, so maybe it’s about something else. Wanna take a guess ‘cause I’m outta fucking ideas?”



Maybe somewhere there was a universe where life was easy. One where Max listened or our future selves told the whole story or maybe worrying about the world ending wasn’t even a concept. Unfortunately, that universe wasn’t this one where I had just managed to hurt the one other person who truly understood what was going on and was fully willing to help solve it.



Sometimes you had to buck up and bite the bullet my dad would say.



“Michael, I didn’t mean to make it sound like you were at fault in any way. It’s just that over the last couple of years I’ve gotten so used to…” I trailed off, unsure how to finish.



“So used to covering for him.” Michael’s lips tightened. “Join the club.”



I edged closer to the couch. “Do you want me to go? With all that’s happened today, maybe now isn’t the best time to try and figure out what triggers these flashes.”



“We have to do it sooner or later Parker. Might as well be now. Wait too long and the world might end.”



I couldn’t stop myself from blanching.



“Oh shit. I mean… Jesus.” His face softened apologetically. “I didn’t mean it quite like that.”



“I know what you meant Michael.” I took a deep breath. He was right. There was no use in putting this off because chances were that there would never be the perfect moment. “We need to get this over with, even if all we learn is what doesn’t cause them.”



He sighed, shoulders body relaxing even as he pushed off the couch. “Okay, where do we start?”



“Well we can try to recreate what happened in the elevator since that’s when we got the first set of flashes.” I absently pushed to stand at the corner of the couch and took up a spot next to him.



“Uh, don’t we need everyone else here to do that?” He scratched his brow. “As well as an elevator?”



I shook my head. “It was just you and me on the motorcycle, and I doubt that anyone would consider it even in the same category as an elevator, so it’s probably safe to say that the flashes happen because of us, not because of our surroundings. Consider them discarded variables.”



“You can be the one to tell Maria that,” he grumbled. “I like my skin attached to my face.”



“Ha, ha, very funny.” I rolled my eyes at his transparent attempt at humor. “Now just stand there and let me see if I can recreate the moment okay?”



“Fine.”



When I was sure he had assumed a reasonably similar position to the one he had held in the elevator, I let myself tip back just as I had when Tess bumped into me. Strong fingers immediately encircled my upper arms and I was hauled back on to my feet.



“What the hell are you doing?” He turned me so I was facing him.



“Exactly what I’ve been telling you, trying to relive the moment. I was falling in the elevator and I got the flashes when I reached out and braced myself against your arm.” I pulled away to brush my hair out of my face as I glared up at him. “You, however, did not respond the way you did before.”



“I didn’t know what you were going to do!” He raked a hand through his hair, stepping closer to stare down at me, all intimidating.



I silently snorted to myself. This was not my fault, and there was no way he was going to make it seem like it was. If he didn’t want to do this then he was going to have say it. I inched further into his bubble to prove that it wouldn’t work. “Well you didn’t know what was happening last time, hence the recreation. We’re trying copy a natural circumstance here Michael, it’s not supposed to be easy.”



“Well, what does my not knowing have anything to do with the flashes, hmm? Maybe it only has to be activated by touch.” He smirked down at me.



I smacked my left hand down on his bare arm, grabbing on a little tighter than necessary. “That’s an interesting hypothesis Michael, but if that’s true then I would be getting flashes right now since this is the exact same hand I used before.”



As I ripped my hand away he growled, “What about my stomach Parker? You practically groped me there too. Don’t you need to prove that both place are receptive before going with your whole ‘it’s not really the touching’ thesis?”



Was he calling my knowledge of the scientific process into question? Oh hell no, Guerin.



I grabbed a handful of his shirt, pressing my cloth covered fingertips into his flesh. “No flashes.”



“Your hand was under my shirt last time,” he reminded me snidely.



My jaw tightened and my eyes narrowed. He was going down.



“So hard up you need to piss a girl off to get some a-action?” I asked shoving my hand free of the cloth and over the smooth skin of his lower abdomen. Strangely, my voice caught on the last word as a shiver rippled down my spine and my breasts tightened. Chill. Funny, if anything I felt too warm, but Michael must have had the air conditioning on high or something.



Luckily he didn’t seem to catch my little sign break. His hand immediately covered mine, stopping my pass over his skin. I couldn’t stop my nails from flexing into the skin and I tried to pull away. The muscles jerked and tightened in response.



“Liz…” his tone was a raspy warning, and to relieve the pressure on my arm I was forced to move closer. His knuckles were practically touching my stomach now, but the hell was I going to back down first.



“Nary a flash,” I chirped up at him, loading my smile with enough sweetness to give him an insulin attack.



No such luck, unfortunately.



His light brown eyes blazed down at me and I could practically identify the moment when his stubbornness pushed him to take it further.



“Then what’s the matter Liz? You’re the most flash happy girl I know, and somehow I doubt it’s a deficiency on my part that’s causing the problem.”



Oh you didn’t dare turn this one back on me. “Right, this coming from the stonewall that never gave flashes to anybody. It’s really my fault we’re not getting flashes. Riiiight.”



An _expression flashed across his face so fast that I didn’t have time to figure out what it was. Had I gone to far? Suddenly his face was looming much closer to mine, his low voice practically purring in my ear, “But Liz, obviously you found a way around that the first two times or we wouldn’t be having this conversation. So c’mon scientist, how are you going to get those flashes?”



What the hell was he asking? He knew there was only one guaranteed way I could get them, a way I wasn’t even going to consider.



“ You only get flashes when you’re...”



“You shouldn’t discount the idea...”



“K-I-S-S-I-N-G…”



“Are you scared, Parker? Here I thought you were the uber-feminist, but perhaps the way you acted with Craig in the hall is more in keeping with reality.”





Then again, it was not like it would mean anything. This was in the name of science, neither of us felt in any way romantic about each other, and it would definitely shut him up.



“You know what you’re asking for, don’t you?” I whispered up at him. His face was only centimeters from my own, and I realized that we were so close a slip of paper would have a hard time getting between us. My whole body pulsed with energy. This was going to knock him on his ass.



“I know that you’re going to wimp out.”



I was doing this in the name of science and girls who had to put up with gloating, know-it-all boys everywhere.



Slowly I slid my free hand up his chest and around to cup the back of his neck while I let the nails of the one trapped against his stomach scrape lightly. His whole body flinched so minutely that if I hadn’t been plastered against him I wouldn’t have felt if. Of course, if I hadn’t been plastered against him, I wouldn’t haven seen the way his eyes widened the tiniest bit either…or even been in this situation most likely. Oh well. Self experimentation on the part of a scientist was a historical phenomenon, although I might have been the first embracing it in anger.



I pushed up on to my toes, bringing my mouth a breath away from his. “And here I thought you knew me because you read my diary. Better give it a closer study next time.”



My eyes remained locked with his as I pressed forward…



At that exact moment my phone decided to go off, the double ring/buzzer vibrating my leg and wherever it was pressed against Michael.



I’d never seen his eyes open that wide as he suddenly pulled away from me. “Jesus Christ!”



I turned away before I could see where his hands shot to, pulling my cell from my pocket and answering, “Hello.”



“Hey Liz. You sound out of breath. Did I interrupt a planning session?” Alex’s voice echoed hollowly in my ear.



Out of breath?



It took me a moment to realize that I did appear to be breathing a bit harder than normal, and now that I thought about it, I could feel my pulse pounding away in my neck. I hadn’t realized how mad Michael had made me.



“Uh, yeah, a planning session,” I stumbled out. “Why, um, are you calling?”



“First say, ‘I, the Stud.’” I could just imagine the gleeful look on his face as I rolled my eyes.



“You the Stud, Alex. Now spill.”



“When I got home today, I decided to put off my statistics—because really, what’s statistics when the world might end—and jump on the internet and give that name you gave me a Google. Now we all know that Google has a tendency to bring up some totally random things and I did run across a rather memorable and mind boggling porn site—”



“Alex…” I ground out cutting off his mini lesson. “Spit. It. Out.”



“Wow, it must have been some planning session I interrupted if you are pissed about it.”



“Alexander Charles Whitman, tell me or…” I didn’t need to finish the thought. Alex, unlike Michael, knew that I carried through on my threats… for the most part.



“Fine, fine.” He took a deep breath, deliberately, I was sure, to draw the moment out a little longer. “I think I have found your Serena Winston.”



[center]* * * * *[/center]



…Michael, no…stop…bomb…don’t…



“You betrayed us you little bitch,” Max hissed, spittle flying from his mouth. “You led the Skins right to us.”



“Yo, I’s helped you outta there. I ain’t betrayed nobody.” Ava held up a threatening hand to keep Max on his side of the hotel room.



…Michael, no…stop…bomb…don’t…



At first he thought she was screaming the words aloud, but it was only with the realization that Liz was running towards the van as fast as she could, that she couldn’t have possibly had the breath that he realized the words were in his head.



…Michael, no…stop…bomb…don’t…



“Who’s did the mind warp so’s we could take off, who’s blocked the minds of the FBI?” Ava yelled. “Without me, you’s woulda been dead.”



Bomb.



Liz was telling him there was a bomb in the van.



“Everyone out,” he cried ripping his hands away from the ignition. “Ava, I need you to make everyone out there believe that we are still in the van.”



“What the fuck are you doing, Michael?” Max reached over the seat to grab him by the shoulder. “Have you lost your mind and forgotten about the Skins?”



He shook the painful fingers away from his flesh just as Liz’s hands slammed against the window.



“Bomb in…van,” she gasped, her chest heaving as she tried to draw in air.



Michael met his king’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Ava, warp now. Everyone out of the van.”



He turned his eyes to Liz, placing his hand against the window where she touched glass.


Everything was going to be okay.



When Isabel’s voice met his ears though, he couldn’t help the sudden chill. “Am I the only one worried about the fact that I haven’t heard any sirens?”



It was a silence they had only heard once before, once when they had come so close to being caught.



The FBI.



“Max, you need to calm down.” Isabel tried to grab her brother, but he ignored her, throwing her off so hard that she crashed into Liz. It was getting out of hand.



“Please, you just didn’t want to get turned into a government experiment.” Max charged forward so quickly that Ava didn’t have time to blast him before he knocked her hand out of the way. “You turn us over to the Skins you get a nice little award from the new King Nicholas. You turn us over to the FBI, and you get dissected just like everyone else.”



Michael was reaching out even as Max wrapped a hand around her throat. “You were the only way the could have found us Ava.”



Grabbing the back of his t-shirt, Michael pulled so hard that the band started to choke his brother. “Let her go now, Maxwell. Ava had nothing to do with it, and we all know it.”



“If we are going to tear each other apart, then we should just surrender to the Skins now,”

Liz murmured, skirting her struggling husband to check Ava’s neck for marks. “We aren’t going to be able to save anything the way we are acting, let alone ourselves.”



Michael wrestled the other man down into one of the hotel chairs, pinning his hands to the wooden arms. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Liz pass her hand over Ava’s skin in an attempt to heal the raised red marks, only to frown when they remained. He wasn’t the only one that witnessed the lapse in her powers.



“Here, let me do that,” Isabel said sliding Liz’s fingers away to take her place. “You’ve been through a lot today.”



The brunette waved off her comment. “All I did was see pictures, Ava was the one that held mind warp after mind warp.”



“Ava?” Michael whispered as he used his powers to hotwire the blue station wagon parked closest to the van. The rustle of nylon and the clunk of boxes could be heard as the other’s hurriedly filled the back with their possessions.



“Yeah, they’s still think we’s in the van. They’s going to suspect soon though.”



The slamming of the rear hatch signaled the last of their stuff had been packed away. The engine roared just as the others climbed into the vehicle. “Not if we distract them.”



Ava shot him a questioning glance.



“Just drop the warp on the van when I say when but keep us covered.”



“Jus’ says the word.” Her brow was heavily lined with concentration.



Michael leaned out the window, hand extended. “Word.”



The van exploded a split second later.



“Maybe you and Ava should lay down, get some sleep before we move again.” Isabel’s voice held an edge of worry.



“Keep that bitch away from my wife,” Max growled trying to stand up only to have Michael slam him back down.



“Nah, I’s don’t need it, jus’ some aspirin, but you’s should definitely catch some z’s cornball,” Ava murmured gruffly. They could all see the pallor of her skin, the bruised look to her eyes. “I’s ain’t the one gettin’ visions like they’s was goin’ out of style.”



“Take the next left,” Max commanded consulting the map.



“No,” Liz gasped grabbing her head. “Road block, go further down, dirt road.”



“She has never had more than ten this close togeth—” Isabel’s concerned comment was cut off as the petite woman beside her moaned again.



“Left, go left, right dead ends.”



“I can’t rest until we figure out if the Skins can find us,” Liz announced.



“I’m telling you,” Max began, but Michael shot him a quelling glance.



“I don’t think it was Ava, Max, she doesn’t have a reason.” She rubbed her fingers against her temple, trying to relieve the pressure building up there. So much had happened, the Skins, the FBI, the visions, but it wouldn’t stop if she lay down, it never did.



“Maybe, I’s did do it. Not all intentional,” she added shooting a glare at Max. “But I dids use the ring.”



“Ring?” Liz’s confusion was echoed by the others.



She pulled the little circlet of silver and crystal from her pocked and tossed it on the table beside the men. “When Lonnie gave’er fuckin’ royal orders at mys place, she left that, sayin’ it’sa gift from mys dearly departed dupe. Figured wut the hell, the bitch offed herself, I’s her closest livin’ relative. I’s was foolin’ around when I’s find out it fuckin’ jumbo sizes our powers. Used it when I’s trackin’ down Liz.”



“Like I would believe…” Max’s voice trailed off as he examined the ring closely. “This looks similar to the crystal that runs the granolith.”



His anger turned into excitement as he held it up to the weak light that managed to slip through the window. “If this can magnify our powers, then imagine what that crystal could do.”



“Not much good, ifen it bring’s Lonnie here.” Ava looked shocked by his sudden emotional about face.



He pushed Michael out of his way as he sprung from the chair to begin pacing. “We need to find out the structure of this rock, its properties. Isabel get on the phone and find someone who knows something about gems or whatever you think this would fall under. Make sure they are open and we’ll head over, get the info we need and then have Ava mind warp them assuming she can pull the same memory manipulation as Tess could. Liz, you need to come to translate the technical, maybe—”



“Liz is going to bed,” Michael said cutting his King off. “We can all see that she needs the rest, and whoever you are going to see will wonder why she looks so tired. Ava should get some sleep too.”



“We definitely need Ava.” Max’s voice dropped down into that dangerous tone again.



“S’alright, I’s go.” The blonde shrugged off the concerned looks cast her way. “Yo, I’s got plen’y in reserve.”



Michael frowned, but decided not to fight as he wasted no time pushing a protesting Liz through the connecting doorway between their two hotel rooms.



“Ava, needs the sleep just as much as I do,” she grumbled hotly, digging her heals into the carpet. His frown deepened at how easy it was to break her weak resistance. He picked her up and gently sat her on the bed, she crossed her arms, but he noticed she didn’t try to get up.



“You gave up a lot of energy for us today,” he murmured. His tone was husky as he pushed her back. “More than you should have.”



“I wasn’t going to let someone I love die if I could stop it Michael.” Her hand came up to touch his face, and he felt its fine trembling against his skin.



Curling his fingers around it he pulled it away, glancing towards the other room and back again. He cleared his throat, “The door is still open Liz. Careful.”



“No, Michael, I need to say this. Earlier when I thought…”



He hushed away her words, “I know, Liz.”



“No, you don’t. I—”



I know Liz, he thought, pushing the words along their connection. I knew as soon as I heard your words in my mind.



It was the first time he had heard actual words, not just seen pictures, felt the edge of emotions. Liz had taken the final step and fully joined with his mind.



This wasn’t how I wanted to tell you I loved you.



But it’s the only way you can, he replied sadly, silently, before once again clearing his throat and speaking aloud, “The best thing you can do right now is get some rest. I don’t know what some of us would do without you if something happened to you, so you need to take care of yourself. I’ll be in the next room.”



He pulled away, leaving her only with his thoughts as he headed out of the room to join the others.



I love you, too.